Farm Direct Coop Recipesor. . . what you can do with your share!

Ooooh what a fun haul! We were super excited to see tomatoes! Really, there isn’t too much better than warm summer tomatoes. Except when you add a little salt. So. GOOD.

The goodies:

Week #5 was chockful of: black raspberries, blueberries, zucchini, summer squash, tomatoes, beets, carrots, walnut sourdough, basil vinegar and arugula.

I love the photos my husband takes!

It seemed to be a little cooler this week (or perhaps I have acclimated finally?) so I did more than just salad assembling. What did I do with this lovely haulage? Check it out.

Black Raspberry Bread with Whipped Creme

I was imagining a spongey, lemony, fluffy goodness of a bread. My husband pretty much wants everything with whipped cream (I am incredibly grateful for my KitchenAid stand mixer!) and I wanted something light and refreshing to accompany it.

I adapted it from this Lemon Blueberry Bread recipe over at All Recipes, which is a handy site (espescially if you’re wondering what to do with an ingredient you’ve got on hand. You can simply enter random ingredients into their search feature. It gives me lots of ideas when I get stuck.)

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup sugar

juice and zest of 1 lemon

 2 eggs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

1 pint black raspberries

Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Cream together eggs and butter for three minutes. Add milk, lemon juice and zest. Add dry ingredients. After washing black raspberries, toss in flour before adding to cake batter. This assures they won’t sink to the bottom of the bread. Which makes for prettier pictures.

Bake at 350 until it’s done. My oven took about 25 minutes.

For the whipped cream, I used about a cup of heavy cream (I prefer this to whipping cream as I feel it’s got too many unnatural ingredients and I don’t want monoglycerides in my food) and 2 tablespoons of organic powdered sugar. You can use a hand or stand mixer, or, if you’re looking to work your upper body, whisk it by hand! I topped the whipped cream with mint, because mint makes things look fancy. 

Caprese Salad

 I know, right? You can totally taste it. These tomatoes were HANDS DOWN pretty amazing. I wanted to really taste the tomatoes and make them the feature of the dish. I paired with slices of mozzarella, and farm share basil (from the potted herbs in week #1). I arranged in a circle, topped with extra virgin olive oil, cracked pepper and coarse salt. Suffice as to say, there was nothing remaining in short time. We loved it!

Roasted Zucchini and Summer Squash with Lemon Ricotta

Blogging pics of (mainly) everything I cook has opened my eyes a lot. I tend to make a lot of salad! I was trying NOT to do that this week. I decided to roast these up instead.

1 zucchini, diced into even pieces

1 summer squash, diced into even pieces

drizzle of olive oil

pinch of fennel seeds

pinch of cumin seeds

juice of 1/2 a lemon

Salt, pepper

ricotta

Preheat oven to 400. Add veggies and oil to a pan and roast for about 18 minutes. Remove from oven, add spices, toss, and return to oven for five minutes.

In a bowl, add a few spoonfuls of ricotta, and juice of the lemon half. Mix up, and plate next to the zucchini and squash. Add a wee bit more olive oil to the ricotta. They’re really good when you eat them together!

Roasted Beets with Rosemary

My girlfriend Anne and I could talk about food and recipes for days on end – and we sometimes do! So when she sent me a link for a recipe for roasted beets, I jumped right on it. We made the same thing for dinner that night. And when your dear friend is all the way in Kentucky, it’s a nice little feeling.

You can check it out right here: Roasted Beet Wedges

Moroccan Tagine

This is 1) a favorite in our house and 2) a total joke in some ways. I have “threatened” to make this on many a hot night, only to scrap it at the last minute. Hey, I always have the best of intentions. And while I can do lots of things, I can’t control the weather. So now “moroccan” is synonymous with “we’re-totally-getting-takeout-instead”.

I came across this recipe this past winter, and ohhhhh, I have been in love with it since. I used the farm share carrots for this little gem.

Moroccan Tagine from Bon Appetit is a great recipe. I make it exactly as it reads here. I think you could substitute ground chicken, turkey or ground meatless, for the vegetarians. It’s really REALLY good. I hope you make it and LOVE IT!

By Manager Julie Pottier-Brown

When I had an impromptu cook-out on Sunday with two other families, I found I had all these ingredients from the last two weeks of the FDC. I was able to throw together a beautiful salad:

• 1 can red kidney beans (Trader Joe’s)
• 3 small white turnips – chopped
• 1 red radish – chopped
• 1 carrot – chopped
• about a 1/3 of a bunch parsley – chopped
• 1/2 a fresh onion – chopped
• 1/2 small cucumber – chopped

Toss, add dressing, enjoy!  I usually use a Dijon mustard/lime or lemon juice/vinegar/cumin dressing that I concoct on the spot, so it is different each time. I added a few potatoes for the grill, beets and green beans as well.  With what my friends provided, we had quite a feast.

By Salem Depot Member Susan DameGreene

• 1 bunch carrots
• 2 – 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth (depending on how thick you like your soup)
• 1/2 cup barley
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Chop the carrots into small pieces, put them in broth with the barley to cook till tender.

2. Cut the tops into small pieces and add to the soup. Cook a few minutes more till tops are tender and serve. The barley makes it a bit thick, which I love.
Makes two or three servings.

By Salem Depot Member Perry McIntosh

This year I am on a quest to use “everything but the squeal,” so I poked around for ideas for carrot greens. I found this recipe online, from Lela Davidson on Hubpages.com, which I used as a base to make a white bean soup. Note: remember to cut the greens off before you store the carrots, because they will continue to draw moisture out of the root.

• 3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 2 small carrots, diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup short grain rice or 2 lbs. cubed potatoes
• 1 1/2 cups chopped carrot tops
• 4 tbsp. fresh grated parmesan cheese

1. Heat the oil in a large pot. Sauté onion, carrots, celery and garlic for 5 minutes over low heat until translucent. Add salt and pepper, and pour in broth. Bring to a boil.

2. Add rice and cook for 15 minutes or until the rice is almost tender. Add the carrot tops and cook for 5 more minutes, mixing well.
3. When rice is tender, pour soup into four bowls. Sprinkle with cheese.

From The Best Recipes in the World

by Mark Bittman

The list of ingredients is deceptively short, but the end result is a surprisingly delicious soupy stew. Add a bit of cooked meat or tofu to make a more substantial dish, and try finishing with lemon.

• ½ pound carrots, about two medium, peeled and cut into ¼ inch dice
• ¾ cup long grain rice, like basmati
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pound fresh spinach, thick stems removed, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp. minced garlic, optional
• 2 tbsp. butter, optional

1. Combine the carrots with 6 cups of water in a saucepan and turn the heat to high. Bring to a boil, then stir in the rice and a large pinch of salt. When the mixture returns to the boil, add the spinach, then adjust the heat so it simmers gently.

2. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice and carrots are very tender and the mixture takes on the consistency of a thick stew, about 30 minutes. Stir in the garlic and butter, if using, and cook for another 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning and serve, or cover and refrigerate for up to a day before reheating, adding a little more water if necessary.